nationstates_fallout_new_vegasfandomcom-20200214-history
Joshua Graham
"The Burned Man" "Malpais Legate" Affiliation: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Caesar's Legion (2247-2277)Dead Horses, The Courier Role: Missionary, Co-founder of Caesar's Legion Rank: Legate (formerly), Acting War Chief for the Dead Horses, Commander in Chief of New Canaan Alignment: Good, Evil (as Legate) Joshua Graham (known formerly as the Malpais Legate, and in folk legends as the Burned Man) is a Mormon missionary, co-founder of Caesar's Legion, and its first Legate. Graham led Caesar's troops to a humiliating defeat in the First Battle of Hoover Dam. Afterwards, Caesar, showing that failure was unacceptable regardless of rank, ordered him coated in pitch, lit on fire, and tossed into the Grand Canyon. He survived, however, and left Caesar's Legion behind him. He is currently the acting leader of the Dead Horses. Background Mormon missionary Joshua Graham was born in Ogden, Utah, Four States Commonwealth, and spent his formative years learning to do the work of a missionary. In 2246, he left to spread the word of God across the wastes. He traveled across the I-15 and Route 89 south to Arizona. It was there, in the Grand Canyon, that he would have his fateful encounter with two Followers of the Apocalypse, Bill Calhoun and Edward Sallow, who had been dispatched to study the tribal dialects that had begun to emerge in the post-apocalyptic world. Graham, who was fluent in many of these languages, decided to help them on their task and joined their nine-person expedition. In 2247, the group visited the Blackfoot tribe. Whether they were tricked or whether Graham made an error with translation is not clear. What is known is that the small group of Followers soon realized that they would not be allowed to leave. At the time, the Blackfoots were at war with seven other tribes, a war they were clearly losing. Unwilling to be destroyed along with them, and against the wishes of Calhoun, Sallow chose to use his knowledge to train the Blackfoot tribe in the art of warfare after witnessing their lack of knowledge firsthand. He showed them how to clean and maintain guns, operate with small unit tactics, create their own explosives, and to strike at their weakest enemies first: divide et impera - divide and conquer. He quickly impressed them enough to the point where he was made their leader and took the name "Caesar". Joshua Graham remained with Caesar as a translator, but "soon enough translation became giving orders and giving orders became leading in battle, training and terrorizing." Calhoun, for his part, was sent back to the Followers to inform them of Caesar's actions. Eventually, all seven tribes were either destroyed or incorporated into Caesar's army, and at this time, Caesar, together with Graham, formed Caesar's Legion out of the tribes that had either been conquered or had chosen to capitulate to avoid extermination, and Graham became Caesar's first Legate. Malpais Legate Though he was neither a particularly brilliant strategist nor tactically flexible, his menace and brutality were infamous. The atrocities he committed made him feared by friend and foe alike. He was dangerous, unpredictable, and above all else legendary for being impossible to kill, even by NCR Rangers. His death at the hands of 1st Recon sharpshooters was reported no less than five times. Such was Caesar's trust in him that he was tasked with leading The Legion at the First Battle of Hoover Dam, so that they could use it as a power source and a staging point from where they could eventually take the city of New Vegas. The Legion was initially successful, and the NCR initiated a tactical retreat to Boulder City, laying explosives and sniping Legion officers as they approached. Graham, unable to adapt his tactics, and intoxicated with his own victory, did not know of the C4 until it was too late, and the Legion were dealt a crushing blow, as the city exploded around them. Caesar, infuriated with this loss, held Graham personally responsible and ordered his execution. The Legate was coated in pitch, set on fire and thrown into the Grand Canyon by the praetorian guard as an example to the rest of the Legion that Caesar wouldn't accept failure from even the highest-ranked members. Burned Man "After the Legion lost the Battle of Hoover Dam, Caesar had his legate, Joshua Graham, covered in pitch, set on fire, and thrown into the Grand Canyon. Superstitious legionaries and tribals believe he lives on as the Burned Man." Even years after what is generally assumed to be his death, Caesar's Legion still does not speak of him by his true name under penalty of death, on the orders of Caesar. Any rumors of his survival are played down by the higher ranks of the Legion, but lower ranking legionaries, tribals and slaves speak of the Burned Man as if he was a vengeful spirit, waiting to return. Caesar is very much aware of his survival, sending scouts and assassins to patrol the territory east of the Colorado River for any sign of him, fearing that the Burned Man may seek revenge. His second baptism at the hands of the Legion and subsequent survival transformed him, rekindled his faith and removed his pride and vanity. After an agonizing three-month journey, he returned to New Canaan, where he was welcomed as if he had never done anything to shame them. His return would inevitably mean doom for the Mormon city, as Caesar desperately wished to see him dead. In 2281, the White Legs, on orders from Caesar, wiped out the majority of the city's residents. The remaining thirty or so refugees scattered, and Daniel, a Mormon missionary, and Graham made their way towards Zion Canyon, where they settled together with the native tribes. Still pursued by the tribe, Graham invested his efforts defending the valley, becoming the War Chief of the Dead Horses and attempting to rally them against the White Legs as Caesar had rallied the Blackfoots against their enemies years ago. In the hopes of breaking the spine of the enemy tribe and taking vengeance for New Canaan, as well as finding redemption for his past crimes. Despite his former allegiance to Caesar's Legion, the Burned Man does not hold any ill will towards any allies of the NCR. To him, the NCR is still redeemable in his eyes, stating that the greed of man is what led to the Great War and that only through faith in God and prayer and genuine acts of kindness can humanity hope to prevent history from repeating itself. He also has a dim opinion of Mr. House, seeing him as another Caesar; a man who rallied together his own Three Families using his own methods to assume domination over others. His hatred towards the Legion stems not just from the fact he was made an example by Caesar, but also Caesar's belief that his will alone will unite the wasteland under the Legion's banner and his refusal to let anything stop him. Ultimately his greatest enmity is for himself - for letting himself get swept up in Caesar's rise to power, for falling in line as his Legate and for perpetrating the innumerable atrocities that helped establish his rule. What he believed may have been the start of a society of equals under one banner has become a totalitarian culture dominated by one man. Bonus * Joshua, along with Calhoun and Caesar, appear on the back of the Legion Denarius. * Even when he was the Legate of Caesar's Legion, Joshua Graham always wore his personal SLCPD armor. * Joshua Graham is an expert with the .45 Auto pistol (from the tradition in New Canaan), and possesses a unique model. * He is also a master with melee weapons, and uses the butt end of his unique .45 Auto pistol as a powerful melee weapon. * In game Joshua's bandages cover most of his face, despite being horrifically burned the flesh around his eyes appears slightly grey and his eyebrows appear to be perfectly fine and not singed. * When first entering dialogue with Graham, he will refer to the player character as "the Courier he didn't expect", and then go on to say, "then again, he wouldn't have come with a caravan". The implication is that he expected Ulysses, rather than the player, to come and attempt to assassinate him, adding to the evidence of Ulysses' allegiance to Caesar's Legion. * If the Courier has killed Caesar, he/she have a dialogue option to tell Graham that Caesar is dead. He does not give much of a reaction, but notes his surprise that Caesar died before he did, and gives his opinion about the future of the Legion. * If the Courier ask him a "personal" question about his burns, and pass a Speech check of 70, he says that he is in constant pain from them. He reveals that he is immune to chems (only stimpaks work on him), and every day has to remove the bandages he wore the previous day and put on fresh ones. He mentions the pain he feels when removing the bandages, saying it feels the same as when he was set on fire and tossed into the Grand Canyon. He does this because "it is better to be clean than comfortable", implying that he replaces his bandages daily to avoid infection. * Similar to Father Elijah and his holographic avatar image, Joshua Graham has a slightly different in-game appearance when compared to the Honest Hearts cover art. In the game, he has pale blue eyes instead of bright blue and his burned skin is more gray around his eyes. * As a follower, Joshua will refuse to open his inventory or wait, and he will neglect the Courier's requests to talk with him. * Joshua Graham can repair equipment to 100% condition. He accepts and will repair every weapon in the game, but doesn't repair all types of apparel, making him only the fifth best non-player character with the ability to repair to max condition (the other four being Paladin Sato, Raul Tejada, Major Knight, and the Sink Central Intelligence Unit). * Pickpocketing only works on Joshua while he is asleep. * Joshua Graham is the only Fallout: New Vegas companion with "good" Karma, while all of the other companions have "neutral" Karma. * If he survives all events, the Honest Hearts endings state that Joshua Graham leads the Dead Horses tribe. He is nowhere to be found upon the Courier's return to Zion, presumably having returned to Dead Horse Point with the majority of the tribe. * If the Courier throws frag mines around Graham when he is following them, he will tell them not to throw mines all over Zion. * Joshua's pre-burned face is shaped differently than his post-burned face. * Joshua Graham is one of the few named non-player characters in the game to be affected by the Sneering Imperialist perk. Notable quotes I have been baptized twice, once in water, once in flame. I will carry the fire of the holy spirit inside until I stand before my Lord for judgement. Caesar would never admit this openly, but he knows I'm alive. I've killed enough of his frumentarii and assassins that have come looking. I don't enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it's just a chore, like any other. We have made and kept covenants with our Lord, God, to honor his laws. In exchange, we are promised eternal salvation after this life. I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me. I fell down into that dark chasm, but the flame burned on and on. In the best of all possible worlds, they would just leave us in peace. But they won't. I want to have my revenge. Against him. Against Caesar. I want to call it my own, to make my anger God's anger. To justify the things I've done. Lastly, waging war against good people is bad for the soul. This may not seem important to you now, but it's the most important thing I've said. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Remember, O Lord, The Children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem who said, "Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation." O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed. How happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. – reciting Psalm 137:1, 7-9 from the King James Bible I know Daniel doesn't approve, but destroying the White Legs is the only way to ensure the Sorrows can remain in Zion. Leading in battle became training, punishing, terrorizing. A series of small mistakes before a great fall. And I stayed in that darkness until after Hoover Dam. Show no quarter to the White Legs we come across. Make no mistake about why we are here. This is an extermination. I can always see it in my mind. The warmth and the heat. It will always be a part of me. But not today. You're a good neighbor to us. We all go through periods of darkness. In such times, we can turn to the Lord, but it's good to have friends. We warned you at Syracuse, and you persisted. You took advantage of us at New Canaan to drive us out, and like the dogs of Caesar you are, you followed us to Zion. And now you stand on holy ground, a temple to God's glory on Earth. But the only use for an animal in our temple is sacrifice! Gallery Joshua3.jpg|Joshua Graham InnaWoods style Joshua Graham2.jpg|Joshua Graham prepares for battle Joshua Graham.jpg|Joshua Graham up close Category:characters